I'm Black / Colored Spade

Album: Hair Soundtrack (1967)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Like the rest of the songs in Hair, "I'm Black/Colored Spade" has lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, music by Galt MacDermot. Performed by Berger, Claude, Hud, Woof, and the Tribe, it is a list of epithets and euphemisms for alluding to African-Americans, which like the word used at the time, negro, does not appear on the list. Along with "Sodomy," it is one of the more controversial songs in the production. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments: 2

  • Doug L Warner from MaineThe term negro IS mentioned. It's the 6th word in the song "I'm a colored spade
    A negro, a black ni--er" The "O" sound is not a hard as in toe. but like the "O" in women
  • Art Davis from United StatesThe original Hair production acknowledges the reality that, in response to the civil rights movement and societal improvements for blacks, racism only mutated to different styles and methods of racism. The racism continued in full force, of which the multitude of dehumanizing words used to describe blacks was just one of the tools mainstream America used to perpetuate racial stereotypes and justify oppression. This song highlights that reality.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Thomas Dolby

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)Songwriter Interviews

Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.